The Celtics embarked on this late-season road trip with a shining record. A brilliant victory over the Warriors, extending their impressive winning streak, reinforced their status as heavy favorites to clinch a championship in June and break their 16-year title drought.

Despite maintaining their position as the NBA’s top team with a considerable lead in the standings, the Celtics have been reminded this week that there is still work to be done. Tuesday’s defeat to the Cavaliers highlighted areas for growth in crunch time, and two nights later, the importance of attention to detail became evident in facing a championship-caliber opponent. Although Jaylen Brown’s impressive 41-point performance nearly led to a miraculous comeback against the defending champions, the Celtics fell short in a 115-109 loss to the Nuggets on Thursday night in Denver.

In a potential preview of the NBA Finals, the Celtics struggled to secure enough defensive stops against Nikola Jokic, who recorded 32 points, 12 rebounds, and 11 assists, and Jamal Murray, contributing 19 points and eight assists. Jayson Tatum, still recovering from the previous loss to the Cavs, couldn’t deliver in the final moments, resulting in the Celtics’ first back-to-back losses since November. Despite a late rally, highlighted by Jrue Holiday’s clutch 3-pointers and a ꜱteal by Brown, the Celtics couldn’t capitalize on the opportunity. A missed go-ahead 3-pointer by Tatum and an alley-oop dunk by Aaron Gordon in the closing seconds sealed the fate of the Celtics in a hard-fought contest.